Girona and Barcelona

[April 7-10]

After a week of pampering with Dean's parents, we were on our own again, pinching pennies and eating light! Our first stop was Girona, the RyanAir destination closest to Barcelona. We didn't roll in until 9 pm but that is still early in the night for Spain, so we went out for a nice walk around the town. It was quite magical with the cathedral lit up and the 10 pm bells ringing. We wandered around the alleyways for another hour and finally called it a night.

The next day we were off on an early train to Barcelona where we found our pension, (small basic hotel), where I made a reservation entirely in Spanish. I didn't really understand much about anything, including the name of the place, so I had Marta call back to confirm. That evening we met Marta, an exchange student from Dean's high school during his senior year (and also an ex-girlfriend). Marta's younger brother, David, was also an exchange student at the Stevens' house several years ago so the family connection is strong.



We were based near Las Ramblas, the popular street of town, full of tourists and human statues covered in layers of paint and striking difficult poses in hopes of your extra change. Between the "statues" stood flower stands and newspaper booths. This is also the place where men wandered around with 6-packs and tried to illegally sell you a beer or two at extortionate rates.



As a proper way to see the city on a Friday night, we went out with Marta and her friends for a few drinks and shoved our way through the crowds. This is a city where people seem to party all night and residents hang large signs on their buildings reminding those parties that people actually live nearby so keep it quiet!



In the picture above, our friends are sampling a version of Absinthe, or so we were told. It was quite strong but seemed to be the popular drink of the bar. For those people who didn't get a chance to dance in the bars at night, weekend morning were a good time to practice dancing, especially for those over 65.



It is actually a complicated dance, we were told. Live musicians supplied the tunes and everyone hopped around in a circle doing little foot movements that change for each verse. It was fun to watch and I didn't dare to participate. Dean tried his own dance as we crossed the street somewhere else. I complained that he ruined the picture, but perhaps it is more interesting this way.



Eating was a fun activity here and we sampled lots of yummies. For lunch, we tried bocadillas, sandwiches with your choice of filling, usually some sort of dried red meat. Of course, by the end of our time in Spain we couldn't stand them anymore. Txakoli was a drink from northern Spain, but everyone calls it "Sidra" if you pour it from this spout from high up. This gives it a bit of bubble and tastes lighter. A serious Dean gives it a professional try here below.



One of our main delights of Barcelona was the architecture. We enjoyed several Gaudi works, like Parc Guell and the famous dragon/lizard statue. It was difficult to get a picture with it all alone as everyone wanted to pose here. (The first photo of the post is at another Gaudi building.)



The weather was alternating between cloudy and cold to sunny and windy, but it was mostly cold in this area and we bundled up with our fleeces and long underwear beneath it all. This was funny because we had just given all of our winter clothing to the Stevens to take back with them to the states, figuring that Spain would be so warm! Apparently it was warmer just before we arrived. Below, another shot of Parc Guell with Antoni, Marta, and me, trying to stay warm.



Dean was intent on seeing the Mies Van Der Rohe pavilion, a building that he had studied in his architecture class during his Melbourne year. It was absolutely freezing outside by this time and the building is mostly open air, so we did a quick tour and spent the most time in the gift shop. I'd like to note that the statue looks like she is doing the "wave your hands in the air if you just don't care" dance.



Our tour that day also included a stop to the 1992 Olympic park and from there we hiked to Montjuic, an old fortress on the hill overlooking the Mediterranean. Here we watched as the clouds hovered in from the sea. It was quite ominous as the wind howled and we saw the line of rain moving our way. We ran to catch the next bus out of there for fear that we would get caught in a terrible storm with no rain gear.



Another Gaudi great was the Temple de La Sagrada Familia, an unfinished work that Dean saw a few years back. He noticed little progress since. It was fun to walk around in the little towers but I felt a bit claustrophobic waiting in line to move up the single file stairwells so everyone could take a picture from every single portal angle.



The best part of Barcelona was having Marta do all the organizing for us and showing us the sights. It made things so much more pleasant. I would love to come back someday so we drank from the famous fountain on Las Ramblas, so my wish will supposedly come true!